The SportXAwards to celebrate the top leaders in professional sport, sponsorship, and the media.
The hosting of South Africa’s inaugural SportXAwards has been timed to coincide with the third Test between the Springboks and the All Blacks and will bestow accolades for excellence in the sports business industry on 3 September 2026 in Johannesburg.
The proceedings will kick off with the SportXAwards Best in Social Media breakfast ceremony, which will recognise the sterling efforts on social media by professional clubs, franchises, leagues, social media managers, and independent content creators.
Immediately after this awards ceremony at 11h00, some guests will take to the golf course to compete in the SportXGolf Challenge.
The SportXAwards MassActive Events segment will follow the breakfast ceremony from 13h00–16h00 to bestow recognition on the people who make mass participation events successful, as well as to announce the top events in their respective categories. A SportXPowerList50 will also be released, ranking the most engaged sports events on social media.
An early evening awards ceremony will then take place for the SportXAwards Agency and Personality of the Year, across different categories for sports agencies and sports agency executives, respectively, to give credit for their behind-the-scenes input in making professional sport a sustainable ecosystem.
Following this ceremony, the event will reach its climax with the SportXAwards Pro Sports and the Pro Sport Brands Index, celebrating top achievers, including club and league CEOs, marketing directors, women executives, media personalities covering professional sport, and sponsors alike.
This segment will also include a ranking of commercial brands in New Zealand partnering rugby in that country.
The SportXPowerList50 rankings will bring the SportXAwards to a close with the announcement of the Top 50 South African professional sports brands on social media.
According to Gerrit Davids, MD of Gerom Media, Sports & Entertainment (Pty) Ltd, organisers of the SportXAwards, the event has been designed to bring together different elements of the sports business industry on a single platform.
“SportXAwards is about celebrating excellence in sport while also creating opportunities for networking, learning, and friendly competition across its professional business ecosystem,” said Davids.
Davids added that the concept also aims to recognise the often-overlooked contribution of administrators and commercial executives, as well as that of sponsors and the media.
“While athletes rightly receive recognition for their achievements, there are also executives, sponsors, and media professionals whose work helps build successful sporting ecosystems. This event acknowledges their role while also celebrating the champions who inspire the nation,” he said.
Further details will be announced soon.
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For enquiries, contact Gerrit Davids
MD, Gerom Media
Email: info@sportsbusiness.co.za
Mobile: +27 82 496 1657